


A Helping Hand

by Melacka



Category: The Blacklist (US TV)
Genre: Banter, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Timeline What Timeline, pre-Lizzington
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:55:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23595685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melacka/pseuds/Melacka
Summary: Red tried to wave a careless hand to demonstrate how unconcerned he was, but his hand felt heavier than usual. He stared at it, baffled at the sudden difficulty.“Try not to move too much, Red,” Liz said gently. “At least not until I take care of your wounds.”“Wounds?” Red asked, confused. “I’m wounded?”Or, Red summons Liz to help him deal with some minor wounds he has sustained. Unfortunately he can't remember where, when or how he sustained said wounds. Liz is not best pleased.
Relationships: Elizabeth Keen/Raymond Reddington
Comments: 14
Kudos: 87





	A Helping Hand

**Author's Note:**

> Written in response to a prompt from hunter-gatherer-stuff on tumblr: https://melacka.tumblr.com/post/614068220209594368/rocknmeme-i-love-you-prompts-send-a-word-or
> 
> The prompts given were Lizzington, BRACE (helping to sit or stand) and CLOTH (bandaging a wound). Hope you enjoy it!

Red regained consciousness slowly. He was aware of some pain somewhere in his body, but it was like he was experiencing it from a distance. Almost like a memory of pain he’d felt before. But that didn’t matter. He’d been having a nice dream and he wasn’t quite ready to let go of it yet.

“Red?”

He smiled. Lizzy was here.

“Red can you hear me?”

He always liked the dreams with Lizzy in them, especially when she was happy to be with him.

“Come on, Raymond, wake up for me.”

Lizzy sounded concerned. About _him_. That wasn’t right. He furrowed his brow, straining to understand what was going on.

“That’s it, you can do it,” she said gently. “Come back to me, now.”

“Lizzy?” he croaked.

“Yes, it’s me.”

He felt a hand at his forehead, and he leaned into the touch, grateful for its coolness against his skin.

“Red, do you know what happened?”

“When?”

“I don’t know,” Lizzy said, sounding concerned again. “You sent me a message about an hour ago, asking my to come to your Bethesda apartment.”

Red nodded. This was perfectly understandable. He often wanted her to be with him.

“When I got here, you wouldn’t open the door. I called your phone and could hear it ringing inside. I called Dembe and he said he was out of town, something about completing a business deal for you.”

Red finally managed to open his eyes and the Lizzy’s face swam into view.

“Lizzy,” he breathed, pleased to see her. “You’re here.”

“Yes, I’m here,” she said impatiently. “Dembe seemed to think that you wouldn’t have been doing anything that would cause concern.”

“Of course not.”

“So, imagine my surprise when I came in to find you collapsed on the floor.”

“Collapsed?” Red repeated, disoriented. “On the _floor_?”

“Yes! I had to break in, Red, I was really worried about you.”

“I’m sorry to have worried you, Lizzy,” he mumbled.

“I’d rather you worry me and let me help you than the alternative.”

He smiled at her happily.

“I don’t know what you have to smile about, Reddington,” she huffed. “You were bleeding pretty badly when I got here and I’m worried that you’re developing a fever. You won’t let me take you to the hospital, will you?”

Red tried to wave a careless hand to demonstrate how unconcerned he was, but his hand felt heavier than usual. He stared at it, baffled at the sudden difficulty.

“Try not to move too much, Red,” Liz said gently. “At least not until I take care of your wounds.”

“Wounds?” Red asked, confused. “I’m wounded?”

“Yes,” she said patiently. “I was able to get you off the floor, but I still don’t know how long you were down or how exactly you ended up there. We may need to call in your medical team anyway.”

“Nonsense! I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

Lizzy looked adorably concerned and Red felt his heart flutter slightly in his chest.

“You need to take better care of yourself,” she whispered, her hand lingering against his cheek. “What if I hadn’t come by? What if I couldn’t get in?”

“Well that doesn’t matter, Lizzy,” Red said dismissively, struggling to sit up and grunting with the effort. “I _did_ call you and you _were_ able to get in. It seems that I can always count on your ability to enter my place of residence, whether I open the door to you or not.”

“I don’t know if I should take that as a compliment or—”

“You should,” he interrupted her. “You definitely should take it as a compliment. It’s a very useful skill to have.”

“Please, just stay put,” she said, putting both her hands on his shoulders and pressing him back against the chair. “I’m going to get your first aid kit. Is it still in the bathroom?”

“I’ll come with you,” Red said, trying to stand up and in the process nearly knocking them both off their feet.

“Whoa!” Liz said, slipping her arms around his waist in an attempt to hold him steady. “You can come with me if you promise to let me help you. Can you do that?”

“I don’t need help, Lizzy, I’m quite alright.”

Liz raised an eyebrow and removed her arms from around him, taking a step back from him. He wobbled and she shook her head at him, sighing deeply.

“You can keep arguing if you want to, Red, but I hardly think you’re in any condition to resist me.”

She slipped an arm around his waist and flung one of his arms over her shoulder.

“I’m never in any condition to resist you, Lizzy,” he murmured, turning his face so he could smell her hair.

“Right,” she grunted. “You’re going to be _so_ embarrassed by all this tomorrow. Alright, let’s go.”

They began an awkward lurch across the apartment. Red frowned in concentration, finally able to pinpoint one of the mysterious sources of pain.

“I think I may have a sprained ankle,” he said in wonder. “How on earth did that happen?”

“Do you really not remember what happened to you?” Liz asked breathlessly, propping him carefully against the doorframe to the bathroom.

“I went out to meet an associate for dinner,” Red said carefully. “I haven’t seen her in years.”

“Her?” Liz said stiffly, switching the light on and drawing him into the room. “Lovers quarrel?”

“Hardly,” he grunted, lowering himself gingerly to sit on the closed toilet lid. “We were never lovers, but we _would_ work together occasionally. She is pleasant company, Lizzy, nothing more.”

“Makes no difference to me, Reddington,” she lied unconvincingly, rummaging through his first aid supplies. “I’m just trying to figure out what happened to you. A graze on your head, what looks like a knife wound in your shoulder and a possible twisted ankle. Whatever happened tonight, it wasn’t _just_ dinner with an old associate. Could she have done this, do you think?”

“I doubt she’d care enough about me to hurt me like this,” Red said tiredly. “Although I am at something of a loss to explain it otherwise.”

“Hmm,” Liz said absently as she started to clean the graze on his head. He winced and she quirked an apologetic smile. “Does it sting? Here, let me try this.”

She started to blow gently on the wound, holding his chin in her hand. He stared at her, mouth hanging open stupidly.

“Better?” she asked, her face very close to his.

Her eyes were _so_ blue. Had he ever been this close to her before?

“Much,” he croaked.

Her eyes flicked down to his lips briefly and she moistened her lips quickly. Then she seemed to get a grip on herself, shaking her head as if to clear it and stepping back to put more space between them.

“Uh,” she said awkwardly. “I’m going to need you to take your clothes off.”

“What? All of them?” he said teasingly, trying to put her at ease.

“If you prefer,” she said coolly. “But I really only need your shirt off.” She considered him in silence and then grinned, saying, “Possibly your pants.”

He smiled fondly at her and would have stripped immediately, just to fluster her, if he hadn’t been a little concerned that he would fall over if he tried.

“Of course, Lizzy, whatever you need,” he said graciously. “I put myself entirely in your hands.”

“Well, that sounds promising!”

He let out a loud laugh and said, “You’re in quite a mood this evening, Lizzy!”

She shrugged and carefully applied a dressing to his head, smoothing it out gently and taping it in place.

“I’m just happy I could help, Red. It’s not often I get to help you with anything other than Blacklisters.” She knelt down and started to undo the laces on his shoes. “And having you at my mercy kind of sweetens the deal, if I’m being honest.” She pulled his shoes off and examined his ankles carefully, picking up first one foot and then the other. “Probably not sprained but your left ankle is a little swollen. Could you have twisted it?”

“Lizzy, I could have done anything to it,” Red said in exasperation. “I have no memory of how I got in this state.”

“I don’t think it needs to be bandaged, but I can do it if you’re worried.” She sat back on her heels and pushed her hair out of her eyes. “Or you can just take it easy tonight and see how you feel in the morning?”

“Does that mean you _won’t_ be removing my pants?”

She bit her lip and looked down coyly.

“Play your cards right,” she murmured, her hands tracing teasing patterns on his thighs. “It could still happen.”

“Oh?” he breathed.

He couldn’t say anything more articulate than that, he was too busy focusing on the little thrill of pleasure he got with every movement of her fingers.

“Yeah,” she whispered. “Just let me injure you somehow, those pants will come right off.”

“Such compassion, Lizzy,” he said dryly.

“I _am_ here on a mercy mission, Red. I wouldn’t want to leave any injuries untended. Speaking of which,” she switched modes abruptly, going back to brisk professionalism, “I need to do something about that wound you have in your shoulder.”

Red submitted to her care without further comment, trying not to wince too much as she removed his shirt. He could tell that she was trying to be gentle, but there was only so much she could do. He was more beat up than he cared to admit. Truth be told, he was starting to feel a little dizzy, but he didn’t want to worry her. Within moments, the wound on his shoulder was cleaned and a fresh dressing was applied to it.

“Done!” Liz said with satisfaction. “Can I help you get to bed?”

“I can manage,” he said, not entirely sure that he could.

“Oh, really?” she scoffed. “Come on, then. Prove it.”

“Scepticism does not suit you, Elizabeth.”

“I happen to disagree, but that’s not the point. Come on, show me how well you can get yourself to bed.”

“Lizzy,” he whined pathetically. “Must you gloat?”

“On this occasion? Yes, I must.”

They glared at each other for a minute before Red sighed, conceding defeat with very little grace.

“Would you be so good as to assist me, Elizabeth?”

She grinned slightly in triumph.

“It would be a pleasure, Raymond.”

He tried not to show the effect it had on him when she called him Raymond. He had the awful feeling that she already knew and that she did it on purpose.

_Clever girl_.

She stepped forward and put both arms around him, supporting him as he stood up slowly. Then they resumed their earlier position, with his arm slung over her shoulder and her arm firmly around his waist.

“Try not to put too much weight on your sore ankle,” Liz said as the limped awkwardly through the apartment. “I don’t think it’s too bad, but you’ll still need to take it easy for a few days at least.”

“Of course.”

“And make sure you call Dembe, he’s worried about you.”

“I will.”

They’d made it to his bedroom and Liz extracted herself from her position at his side.

“Well, I think you can handle it from here,” she said, sounding agitated all of a sudden. “I’ll call you tomorrow, maybe come around to check on you?”

“That would be lovely, Lizzy.”

“And I can bring you some breakfast, save you trying to move around too much?” Liz must have noticed the look of shock on his face because she hurried on, “I don’t have to, I just thought it might be good. You need your rest, of course, and you still don’t know what happened tonight, there may be a threat out there that we need to deal with—”

“Lizzy,” he interrupted her nervous chatter with a gentle smile. “I would love to see you tomorrow morning, in whatever capacity you choose.”

She nodded quickly, looking relieved but still embarrassed.

“Great, that’s settled, then. I guess I’ll be going now.”

Red nodded and made his way slowly to the bed.

“Goodnight, then.”

“Goodnight, Lizzy,” he sighed, sitting down with a relieved groan. “Oh, and Lizzy?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you,” he said sincerely, “for looking after me tonight. I would have been in a very bad way if it weren’t for you. So, thank you.”

Liz regarded him in silence, a slow smile spreading across her face.

“You’re welcome, Red.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to anyone who reads/leaves kudos/comments. It really does make my day to see it! Feel free to drop by tumblr and leave me another prompt!


End file.
